


Objective

by Diary



Category: Lady Jane (1986)
Genre: Bechdel Test Fail, Gen, Introspection, Male-Female Friendship, POV Edward VI of England, POV Male Character, Self-Reflection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2016-09-02
Packaged: 2018-08-12 12:34:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7934770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Repost. When Edward thinks of marriage, he is wary of the subject. Complete.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Objective

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Lady Jane or The Tudors.

If he's objective, his cousin is plain and proper.

She's gangly, and her movements are awkward. Regardless of what headdress she wears, her hair has a tendency to frizz. Her soft eyes are devoid of fire and power. She stumbles over her words and has difficultly in keeping her face stoic. She's fashionable in dress only because her mother controls her wardrobe.

Edward often reminds himself he must be objective towards Jane.

Brilliant and compassionate, she will do great things in life. Or at least, he desperately hopes she will. Someday, she will marry, but he believes she will refuse to let any husband stop her.

When Edward thinks of marriage, he is wary of the subject.

He saw foolish, flighty Kitty Howard lose her head, and though, she had annoyed him with her insistence of dismissing his tutors and trying to get him to play with puppets and wooden animals, he had never disliked her. Older now, he wishes he had spent more time playing with her. Many of the things he's heard of Catalina of Aragon and Anne Boleyn he often sees in Mary and Bess.

Catalina was mistreated by the man she gave boundless love and devotion to, and too easily, he can see Mary following the same path, so long as it's a Catholic one.

Boleyn was a lover of knowledge and had an unbreakable dignity, and for her trouble, she was accused of incest.

Kat Parr and Anne of Cleves are still around, and only the latter seems happy. Kat tells him differently, but he's no longer a child who can be talked around. He can see the emotional cruelty his uncle subjects her to.

His own mother died giving life to him, a son. For this, she is endlessly praised, but Edward realises she could easily have been another discarded wife.

Yes, Edward is wary of the subject of marriage.

The first time he was betrothed, it ended with people dead.

Remembering conversations with Kitty, Edward knows now he was not as objective in his comments about Jane as he should have been. He's sure his giggling stepmother had tried to arrange a betrothal between he and Jane. In fact, Jane herself had informed him she thought the reason for her being summoned to the court was due to her mother arranging a marriage for her with the Queen's help.

Jane left court with both he and her unpromised, but lately, John Dudley has been talking about marriage. One of his suggestions had been Jane, but Edward had calmly vetoed the idea by citing her status as possible heiress presumptive to the throne. On Dudley's urging, he had agreed to keep her on the list as a potential though distant possibility.

When he talks with Jane, he feels alive and content. She can match him for brains and still show genuine affection. It may be an insult to his mother's memory, but the thought of someone so stupid as Kitty, so submissive in all but religion as Catalina, so meek as he's heard his mother was, such a thought feels him with dread. If she's loyal, he can talk to her, but if she has a feeble mind, she can never understand him.

Yet, he tells Dudley to find him a suitably pretty woman who has a mild disposition. Of course, her being Reformist is the one non-waivable qualification.

Dudley is perhaps more perceptive than Edward gives him credit for. While he makes lists of all the royal unmarried women fitting such qualifications, when Jane has come to court due to her mother's command, Dudley often urges Edward to dance and walk with her. Edward is unsure if Frances and Dudley are lovers or simply friendly allies, but he knows they often plot together. Her daughter becoming a full member of court is likely due to his urging.

Edward dances and walks with Jane and reminds himself to be objective. It's harder when the light hits her frizzy hair and reminds him of how wonderful it felt within his hands when they were younger and propriety was not such a concern. Even harder still when they sit by the water and talk and her words come easier and her face reveals her passion and happiness.

It’s impossible to ignore, then, how her eyes are window to a wonderful soul.

His father was a great King but went through six wives. Short of natural death, Edward intends to only have one wife. And so help him God, he will never be guilty of the emotional cruelty those six wives, with the possible exception of Anne of Cleves, were subjected to.

Yes, Jane will do great things, regardless of marriage.

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: I really enjoyed Lady Jane, but it's purpose of being a love story between Jane and Guilford Dudley fell apart due to the chemistry between Helena Bonham Carter (Jane) and Warren Saire (Edward). I swear, someone involved in the film meant for there to be a shiptease between the two. I honestly wish I could get a hold of a copy of the script so that I could figure out exactly what Carter and Saire were going for during certain scenes. I doubt the actors meant to hint at anything deeper than familial love and friendship, but I came away thinking that Jane and Edward were in love with one another.


End file.
